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ail

verb

  1. be ill
L14663 on Wikidata ↗

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L316136 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈeɪ̯l/ / [ˈeɪ̯l]

adj

Etymology: Inherited from Middle English eyle, eile, from Old English eġle (“hideous, loathsome, hateful, horrid, troublesome, grievous, painful”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌿𐍃 (aglus, “hard, difficult”).

  1. Painful; troublesome.

noun

Etymology: Inherited from Middle English eile, eyle, eiȝle, from Old English eġl (“an ail; awn; beard of barley; mote”), from Proto-Germanic *agilō (“awn”), related to *ahaz (“ear (of grain)”). Cognate with German Achel, Egel, Ägel.

  1. The awn of barley or other types of corn.

verb

Etymology: Inherited from Middle English eilen, from Old English eġlan, eġlian (“to trouble, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *aglijan, from Proto-Germanic *aglijaną (“to trouble, vex”), cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌲𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (agljan, “to distress”).

  1. To cause to suffer; to trouble, afflict. (Now chiefly in interrogative or indefinite constructions.)

    Have some chicken soup. It's good for what ails you.

    What aileth thee, Hagar?

  2. To be ill; to suffer; to be troubled.

    When he ails ever so little […] he is so peevish.